Waldron said it was when she went to see if Willemsen was OK that she realized what had happened.

"It smelled like liquor when you opened the door. You could smell it. You could tell she was drunk," Waldron said.

Waldron insists she would know -- she's been a bartender and has been TABC certified to recognize signs of intoxication.

She said Willemsen begged her not to call the police, but she did.

When an officer arrived, Waldron said, he never did a field sobriety test and never arrested Willemsen. There is no mention of any suspicion of insobriety in the officer's report. Willemsen would later say in court that the officer dropped her at a Denny's and told her to get a ride and get her life together.

"I think that she got away with it," said Waldron.

A year later, Willemsen drove drunk and killed Officer Ekpanya. Only at trial did anything about the prior wreck come out. Not only did Waldron testify about Willemsen's apparent insobriety, so did the wrecker driver who responded that night in 2015.

"Had the police officer that had my wreck done his job correctly, another officer would still be here," said Waldron.